"Маstеr Вa!! Mаstеr Ва, sаve me—" Hiррo scrеamed, сlutсhing hеr hаnds tightlу, fеeling his bodу begin to sink as sand surged from аll dirеctiоns, as if trуing tо suсk him dоwn.
"Don't strugglе!!" Вауunуe shоuted, thinking it was like а swаmp—thе more yоu flail, the fаster yоu sink.
Diао Zhuо rushеd оvеr, grabbing onе оf them with еасh hand. "Liе flat! Sрrеad yоur limbs! Dоn't movе!"
"Why?!" Baуunye yеllеd.
"Liе flat!" Diаo Zhuo had nо timе tо eхрlаin thе еffеcts оf dеnsity аnd surfaсe arеa оn thе tоp lауеr оf sand. He оnly knew that even if thе sand covеred just onе foоt, рulling somеone out would be as difficult as dragging a car. Unless he had an excavator, trying to lift any of them would be futile.
"Hey!! Diao Zhuo! I'm coming to help you!!" Brother Long shouted.
"No need! Drive the cars away now!"
Brother Long and Old Wang had no choice but to drive the two vehicles away first. The other three lay flat on the ground in a spread-eagle position, holding hands. The remaining car was half-buried by sand pressing in from all sides. The three could feel the sand beneath them flowing incessantly, as if billions of ants were carrying them along.
The shaking lasted for over five minutes before everything fell silent. The height and shape of the surrounding dunes had changed, as if they had grown legs—some new dunes rose, while others were flattened.
The sand finally stopped flowing. Hippo’s face was covered in sand, and he couldn’t help but sneeze three times in a row.
Diao Zhuo released their hands and slowly stood up. After a long pause, he said, "The danger is over."
"Pah! Pah! Pah!" Bayunye jumped up abruptly, desperately spitting the sand out of her mouth. "What exactly happened? Was it quicksand?"
"'Quicksand' is just a trick TV shows use to create suspense." Diao Zhuo explained the concept of sand "liquefaction" to her. Seeing her grow more confused and eventually lose focus, he stopped. He thought to himself that since the sand in this area could "liquefy" and the depth of the underground river was unknown, even with an excavator, it might not be possible to dig out water quickly.
Whether it was quicksand or liquefaction, the desert’s casual move had brought immense destructive power.
Diao Zhuo patted Hippo, who was still shaken, bringing him back to his senses. Hippo emptied the sand from his shoes and carefully tied his laces. Diao Zhuo also emptied the sand from his shoes and noticed Hippo’s unique way of tying his laces, giving it a second glance. Hippo generously taught him, saying that although this method was a bit more troublesome, it had the advantage of not easily coming loose.
"Not bad, learned a new trick." Diao Zhuo thanked him.
"Not at all, Captain Diao just saved my life!" Hippo said, then suddenly tugged at Bayunye’s sleeve and said sincerely, "Master Ba, I thought you were the type to abandon friends for looks, but I didn’t expect you’d risk danger to pull me out."
"Why insult me before praising me?" Bayunye rolled her eyes, though a smile played on her lips.
"Then tell me, if both Diao Zhuo and I fell into the water, who would you pull out?"
"Him! Let you drown."
"I can swim," Diao Zhuo ungraciously countered.
"I can’t swim, so you’d have to save me after I jump in," Bayunye laughed. "And maybe give me some mouth-to-mouth resuscitation."
Hippo also chimed in: "You can swim, and you even claim you can hold your breath underwater for two minutes without surfacing. Brother Long said he became friends with you after seeing you rescue two kids from a reservoir all by yourself."Diao Zhuo was taken aback. "You pulled off such a heroic feat?"
"I didn't mean to jump in—I was just watching the commotion when someone pushed me in!" Bayunye stubbornly refused to admit the truth. Back then, she was only fifteen or sixteen, still practically a child herself. She managed to save two kids but couldn't get out afterward, and ended up being rescued by Brother Long. Thinking back, it was downright embarrassing.
At the time, Brother Long asked her, "Weren't you afraid of dying, jumping in like that, little girl?" She thought to herself that she was a poor student, always dragging down the class average, and no one would miss her if she died. So she told Brother Long, "Those two kids probably have parents who love them. It wouldn't be good if they died. As for me, it doesn't matter."
Brother Long said, "What kind of nonsense is that? From now on, I've got your back."
Back then, Brother Long wasn't overweight yet—he was strong, fearless, and built like a tank, much like Diao Zhuo is now. Shamelessly, she even asked Brother Long, "Do you have a crush on me?" Brother Long spat in disgust, saying he had a wife and wasn't interested in anyone else. She really was bold—she skipped school and followed Brother Long to Tibet for about twenty days. When she returned, she no longer wanted to study and insisted on driving with Brother Long. Brother Long refused, saying, "You're too wild—you'll cause accidents if you drive. You need more tempering." Later, he arranged for her to join the military. After she was discharged, Brother Long finally let her drive with him. On the surface, she acted irreverently toward him, but deep down, she knew very well that everything she had today was thanks to Brother Long's guidance. With her rough-and-tumble nature, she not only saw Brother Long as her boss and big brother but also as a life-and-death comrade.
Hippo sneered, "Hmph, I bet you were the one who kicked those two kids in."
"Get lost!"
The two of them started bickering again. Diao Zhuo watched Bayunye, realizing that beneath her tough exterior lay a passionate side. She seemed blunt and unrestrained, but if you truly thought she was shameless, you'd be sorely mistaken. In reality, she was like an underground river hidden in the desert—you had to keep digging deeper to find it.
Perhaps sensing his gaze, Bayunye turned her head to look at him and suddenly grinned mischievously. Pouting her lips, she made a "mwah" sound, blowing him a kiss without any restraint, fully embracing her usual bold and unrestrained style.
Diao Zhuo raised his hand as if catching it and holding it in his palm, as if asking, "Guess what I'll do with it?"
Bayunye pointed at his chest—catch my little kiss with your little heart.
Diao Zhuo smirked coldly, made a gesture of tossing it upward, then pretended to hold a baseball bat and swung it, as if hitting it far away.
Bayunye rolled her eyes at him, sent Hippo to check on the vehicle, then kissed her own palm hard, as if holding a grenade, and charged toward Diao Zhuo, raising her hand to press it forcefully against his mouth.
Such childish, pointless games.
Diao Zhuo reached out and grabbed her hand. "Where do you think you're putting that?"
"Hold it tight for me!"
"Is this even fun?" There was nothing in his hand, and this straight-laced man showed nothing but disdain.
"Yes."
Footsteps approached—it seemed Brother Long and Old Wang had driven the vehicle far away before running back with two bundles of rope to rescue them. Seeing that aside from being covered in dust, they were unharmed, they both breathed a sigh of relief.
Bayunye pulled her hand back and even gave Diao Zhuo a hard shove in feigned embarrassment. He let go of her hand, turned around nonchalantly, and acted as if nothing had happened.
Old Wang looked terrified. "A small puddle suddenly appeared over there, bubbling nonstop, and then it vanished! The sand is still wet, icy cold!""Badanjilin Desert has at least three deep fault zones underground, with subterranean rivers hidden within them. Their depth is still unknown," Diao Zhuo said with a calm expression, showing no trace of his earlier sinister demeanor. "It's likely that the underground rivers changed course for unknown reasons, causing unstable water pressure. Most of the Hai Zi that appear and disappear in the desert are due to this."
Bayunye gave him a thumbs-up—what he said sounded so professional!
"So relying on Hai Zi in the desert for water supply is completely unreliable!" Old Wang sighed. "I heard only camels can smell water from over ten kilometers away. Satellite maps and GPS are useless when it comes to finding water!"
"Don’t say that, we should still trust science..." Brother Long waved his hand, skillfully organizing the hemp rope while saying with relief, "We owe a lot to Brother Diao this time."
"Just common professional knowledge."
"You really know a lot," the academically challenged Bayunye said with an envious expression. "Knowledge changes fate..."
"Want to learn?" Diao Zhuo asked. "I can teach you from the basics."
"How many years would it take?"
"If you can settle down and focus, you can get started in four years."
"No, thanks..." The academic underachiever waved her hand and quickly escaped.
Xiao Ai felt like she hadn’t slept for long before she had to get up. Now, time and water were the most important conditions for survival. Today seemed to be a Saturday. Her other classmates and friends were probably still sleeping in or getting ready to go somewhere to enjoy the autumn scenery, while she was teetering on the edge of life and death, sweltering in the dry heat during the day and shivering from the cold at night.
Why did I come here to suffer?—she thought regretfully.
When Zheming handed her a small cup of water, she drank it carefully as if grasping a lifeline, not willing to waste a single drop, because the next time she drank water might not be until the afternoon.
On the road, there was no room for overthinking, because all your energy and willpower were focused on your two legs, leaving your brain useless. You simply relied on biological instinct to keep walking, step after step.
Zhang Tianen said they would find a freshwater lake tomorrow. Once they filled up on water, they could endure for another two or three days and walk out of the desert.
The words "freshwater lake" had the effect of "quenching thirst by thinking of plums." Xiao Ai and Zheming both swallowed unconsciously, even though there was hardly any saliva left in their mouths.
After climbing over a sand dune, everyone saw a skeleton half-buried in the sand at the bottom of the slope. In the vast desert, the sudden appearance of something other than a sand dune was quite startling. Zhang Tianen and Zheming supported Xiao Ai as they slowly made their way down. Xiao Ai’s hands, though dry and rough, were still quite soft. Zhang Tianen thought this might be the only time in his life he could hold her hand so openly and properly.
As they got closer, they realized it wasn’t a skeleton but the dried-out corpse of a camel. Its skin and muscles were so withered they looked like paper, making the shape of its bones stand out. From a distance, it resembled a skeleton, clearly having died a very long time ago.
"If it had died recently, we could have drunk its blood!" Zhang Tianen said regretfully.
Zheming and Xiao Ai nodded, then were surprised to realize they actually wanted to drink blood to quench their thirst. A terrifying thought suddenly crossed Zheming’s mind—if one of them died first, would the other two drink the dead person’s blood?The three of them crouched beside the camel skeleton, rummaging through its stiff limbs as if hoping to find water. Zhang Tianen discovered it was a wild dromedary.
"Aren't camels supposed to be ships of the desert? How could it die here..." Xiao Ai suddenly asked, "Did it encounter a death worm?"
"Impossible. It probably just got lost," Zheming said casually.
Zhang Tianen didn't believe in any death worm legends at all, yet a shiver ran through him. Camels were creatures that knew their way. Once they drank their fill, they could go thirty days without water. Besides, wild dromedaries had exceptional survival skills in the desert—they could even eat spiny cacti. According to the map, they were less than twenty kilometers from a water source. Why couldn't this camel have held on for just one more day?
Could it be that there was no water nearby at all?
He was genuinely startled. Suddenly, the half-full water bottle in his backpack felt as heavy as a thousand pounds, as if it weren't water inside but solid gold. Ironically, in the desert, even a cartload of gold couldn't buy a single cup of water.
No, that couldn't be. The map clearly showed a fairly large freshwater lake to the southwest.
"Camels are flesh and blood too. Maybe it got sick and died suddenly here," he said, both to dispel their doubts and to comfort himself. He kicked the camel carcass a few times with force. "Forget about it. Let's go!"
Long after the three had left, the sand beneath the camel's mummified corpse trembled slightly, sinking downward as if there were a hole underground. The half-buried part of the carcass gradually became more exposed, its fur covered in large, patchy spots as if afflicted by some skin disease. In several places, it even appeared to have been burned through, leaving gaping holes.
As they continued walking, no matter how desperately Zheming pleaded, Zhang Tianen gritted his teeth and refused to take out the water. Doubt had already taken root in his mind—what if there really was no water ahead? Once this bottle ran dry, his life would be on a countdown, unless the search and rescue team could find them in time.
Back in 2013, two hikers trekking across the Badanjilin Desert had run out of water after getting lost. Fortunately, the Rescue Team arrived in time to save their lives. Zhang Tianen had read one of their memoirs posted on a forum, describing climbing sand dunes as "like scaling a wall made of flour" and walking in the desert as "like trudging through a monster's intestines."
Now, it felt like more than just walking through a monster's intestines—it was like a journey through the depths of hell itself.
When they stopped to rest and set up camp at noon, Zheming brought up the subject again, almost kneeling before Zhang Tianen, begging for just a sip of water. Suppressing his anger and a flicker of murderous intent, Zheming thought that under normal circumstances, he would have fought Zhang Tianen fiercely. But now, his life was in the other man's hands, and he dared not act rashly.
"At least give Xiao Ai some water!" Zheming reluctantly played his trump card.
Zhang Tianen turned his back to Zheming and poured out a tiny amount of water—no more than a bottle cap's worth—watching as Xiao Ai drank it.
That small amount of water was like a few raindrops falling on a mountain of fire, utterly useless.
"Give me some! Just a little!" Zheming pleaded.
Zhang Tianen poured half a bottle cap for him, his face stern. It wasn't even enough to moisten his mouth.
Zheming drank every last drop with a pained expression. The half-cap of water amounted to just a few drops, and his throat remained so parched it felt like it might burst into flames. At that moment, he truly wanted to kill Zhang Tianen!After resting for two hours, Zheming realized he had also suffered heatstroke. His body felt weak and limp like a wad of cotton, and his stomach was cramping in waves. He drank all the remaining Huoxiang Zhengqi Shui, because to him, the medicinal liquid was still liquid—better than dying of thirst or heat.
"How about you two stay here, and I'll go look for water alone? I'll come back once I find it," Zhang Tianen said.
"Without you, what would we drink?" Zheming asked nervously.
Zhang Tianen's expression remained blank. "Urine."
Xiao Ai instinctively shrank back, clearly finding the idea unacceptable.
Zheming frowned, bewildered, and questioned, "Urine is salty. How can someone drink salty water when they're thirsty?"
"Urine isn't salty water. Bear Grylls said that when there's absolutely no water, you have to drink urine if you have to—he's done it himself," Zhang Tianen asserted firmly.
"To hell with Bear Grylls!" Zheming shouted hoarsely. "That's fake! It's all for show!"
"What did you say?" Zhang Tianen's face instantly darkened, his eyes fixed intently on Zheming.
Xiao Ai quickly tugged at Zheming's sleeve.
"I just think... urine shouldn't be drunk," Zheming stammered, his face flushing red, his voice lowering.
"Then that means you're not thirsty enough," Zhang Tianen said coldly.
Zheming was left speechless. His throat felt like it was on fire, and the water in his body seemed like oil in a frying pan, sizzling as it evaporated and disappeared. In Zhang Tianen's eyes, was that still not thirsty enough?
"You two wait here. I'll head southwest to look for water." Zhang Tianen couldn't be bothered to argue further. He adjusted his backpack and prepared to leave.
"You can't go!" Zheming suddenly shouted.
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